Study Finds Widespread Adoption of Robot-Assisted Prostatectomy in United States
A new study reveals that the United States has experienced widespread adoption of robot-assisted prostatectomy to treat prostate cancer in recent years. The findings, reported by Chang et al in BJU International, also showed that although such surgeries are more expensive than traditional surgeries, their costs are decreasing over time.
Study Details
In 2001, surgeons began using robotic technologies in operations to remove the prostate. To examine trends in the use of such robot-assisted radical prostatectomy procedures for prostate cancer patients, Steven Chang, MD, MS, of Harvard Medical School, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, led a team that analyzed 489,369 men who underwent non–robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (ie, open or laparoscopic radical prostatectomy) or robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in the United States from 2003 to 2010.
Increasing Adoption, Decreasing Costs
During the study period, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy adoption (defined as performing more than 50% of annual radical prostatectomies with the robotic approach) increased from 0.7% to 42% of surgeons performing radical prostatectomies. Surgeons who performed at least 25 radical prostatectomies each year were more likely to adopt robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.
Also, from 2005 to 2007, adoption was more common among surgeons at teaching hospitals and at intermediate and large-sized hospitals. After 2007, adoption was more common among surgeons at urban hospitals. Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy was more costly, disproportionally contributing to the 40% increase in annual prostate cancer surgery expenditures. However, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy costs generally decreased and plateaued at slightly over $10,000 while non–robot-assisted radical prostatectomy costs increased to nearly $9,000 by the end of the study.
“Our findings give insights on the adoption of not just robotic technology but future surgical innovations in terms of the general pattern of early diffusion, the potential impact on costs of new and competing treatments, and the alternations in practices patterns such as centralization of care to higher volume providers,” said Dr. Chang.
Dr. Chang is the corresponding author for the BJU International study.
Study author Adam Kibel, MD, is a consultant for GenomeDx, Myriad, Sanofi-Aventis, and Dendreon.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
